St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-09-04
HE PROBABLY STANDS IN.
He Thinks There Are Too Many
Boarders that Are Given to
Kicking.


Boarders that Are Given to
Kicking.
To the Editor of the Globe.
1t is now ten years since l left my
fathers house and became wanderer
on the face of the earth. During all
those yearSI have eaten and slept in
boarding houses. Some of them have
been good, some of them have been bad,
and, perhaps. one or two of them have
been worse. All things considered,
however, l have Jared we'll enough.
Usually l have received 100 cents
worth for. every dollar l have paid
not, the landlady has always been a
man. In order to avoid opportunity for
d doubtful construction it will perhaps
be proper for me to say that1 have al
ways paid the agreed price, and have
never left place in debt for my board.
There are two sides to this question,
the same as to any other. There are
good boarding houses and. agreeable
landladieS, and there are poor boarding
houses and disagreeable. landladieS.
There are also agreeable bOarderS and
deteStable. ones. suspect that, if all
landladieS and all boaTders; were put into
the same bag and shaken up, there
would as many landladieS come out
first as there would be boarders. and |
think it quite probable that a close count
of those dropping out last would dis
close among the number due proper
ton of boarderS. My observation is
that, as rule, the boarder who treats
his landlady with the same cOnsidera-
ton he expects from her, and who bears
in mind that she is under no obligations
to give0him 81 worth Of::food, comfort or
attention for 81 in money, is well treated,
well fed, we'll housed and we'll satisfied.
1t too often is the case that it seems to
be the proper capeT' for the boarder
to indulge.in filings" at his landlady for
no other reason than to show his wit.
And it is not quite an uncommon
thing for. him itO.e. rear. the same
contemptuOuS air toward the landlady,
and to treat her with the same inSolence
that parvenus usually do their servants,
and for much the same reason. id est,
because he is conscious that his manners
and conduct are not such as to insure
him the treatment and consideration
which is inVOluntar lily and UNIVERSAL Y
accorded to the we'll bred-gentleman,
and because he is conscious
that his manners, and conduct
are not 90, such as. to re-
feels that the landlady is his equal or
superior, and. lest others will think the
same, he attempts by his conduct to re-
move all grounds for any comparison of
himself with her. He succeeds, for
he very soon makes it evident to all that
he cannot compare with her in either
good sense good temper, or good breed
ing. For more than two years |
have been boarding and rooming in
one place in the city. Now, the landIady
is an elderly lady, and has a husband
who lives with her.. am not in love
with any of her daughters, and do not
them; neither am in any way related
to them, but came to the house an utter
stranger. So there is no cause for my
receiving any other attention than
every other boarder in the house re-
pay. the same price and take
the same fare and the attention
that every other boarder gets. / chose
the place and stay here because / get
all | pay for, and can't afford to pay any
better. During the two years have
usually had good, fresh Yictuals, well
cooked and well served. There has
done i'm any family where people live in
comfort, but not in luxury. If / sleep
late and get down to breakfast at a.
M, or later, | can always get a piece of
bread, with butter and coffee. If /
am sick, toast and tea are prepared as
matter of course, and | am consulted as
to whether anything else would be more
palatable. The landlady looks after send
ing my clothes to the laundry and after
my board bill, and does it all fairly and
to my interest. If am short of funds
she allows my board bill to run longer
than I'd like some of my friends to know,
and never grumbleS in the least I've
not at any time been bothered with bed
bugs. Two or three times I've seen
stray one, but always he was half
starved, and it was evident he had not
fed at our table. However, all l had to
do to have my room and bed thoroughly
cleanSed, was to go quietly and say had
captured murderous bed bug and ex-
ecuted him. The parlor and all con-
yenienceS of the place are at my dis
poSal. She does not sew on my but
tons or do my mending, but
man never gets that done without tax
ing the garment to a tailor, any way,
whether he live at home or in a board
ing-houSe. There is no reason why she
should do my mending or buttons. l do
not pay her to do them, as there is no
peculiar relationship by reason whereof
it becomes her duty to do them, and
she certainly has enough else to do. She
is perhaps little confidential, and tells
me more of her private business
than is necessary, and at times is given
to repeating for the fourth or fifth time
the same story of former better times
and easier life, or some other chapter of
family history. But that does not hurt
me, and it seems to make her feel
better. 1t is a slight fault. There is
not boarder in the house, land there has
not been for two years, who has
grumbled who has not more disagreeable
faults than the landlady.
10 hear some of the witticisms, so
called, of some of the boarders when
the landiady is out, stranger would
think we were paying $50 or $50 month
for accommodations instead of $25 or
$50. And not long since one Of our
boarderS, with contemptuous wave of
the hand, rudeiy and insOlently
stopped her in the middle of a sem
tence by "Giye me some bread
Mrs. B-t'' She was simply explain
ing to him that she has not neglected
him and that he need not have gone
without his breakfast, though he had
come in very late inTthe morning. There
are enough disagreeable laadladies and
poor boarding houses, and there are too
many diSagreeaDle and grumbling